I love garlic. It is probably my favorite seasoning of all time, and yes. It’s a seasoning. Not a vegetable seasoned with something else. Or it shouldn’t be,anyway. I have experience with this.

The other night, Mr. Rootie was out of town on business, and I took the opportunity to make something New And Different. To me, anyway. I’d never made it before. Since we in this household are enamored of roasted garlic, it seemed like a good thing.

And if one head of roasted garlic in a pot of tomato sauce is good, then how much better could 4 heads in a pot of broth with a few noodles be? LOTS BETTER, I TELL YOU WHAT!

I am not posting pictures, because the ones on that web site are lovely, so look at them. Also, those are pretty much exactly like what I made, only I used a rich homemade chicken stock instead of water. Because stock is almost always better than water in a soup. Right? Right.

The soup was made and eaten like French Onion Soup with a slice of crusty bread and cheese on top (I used asiago because gruyere is hard to find in this town).

It was delicious. Pungent, but delicious. Comments were made about a low risk of intestinal parasites in the future.

The next day, when Himself returned from his trip (it was Valentine’s Day) he gave me a hug and said “you smell like garlic.” I was horrified mainly because this was late afternoon and I had gone all day long being around people and completely unaware that there was an aroma utterly unlike the C.O. Bigelow Lemon perfume I typically wear. The horror was then doubled with the realization that garlic and lemons only really go well together on a roasted (or grilled) chicken or possibly in some hummus, and I am neither of those things.

So. The moral of this story is two-fold:

1. If you make the soup, make sure your significant other eats it as well.

2.If you eat the soup, either sequester yourself for a few days (if you are self-conscience as I am), or at the very least wear that aroma with pride.

3. and don’t eat it within several days of taking a long flight on an airplane.

The weekly visit to L&D Market happened today. That’s the local place that sells locally grown produce, with a friendly 12 year old stocking tomatoes and corn, industrial fans blowing and the aroma of ripe cantaloupes wafting over you.

Today was Grocery Day, the biweekly trip to restock the pantry an reassure myself that, come what may, we WILL eat well for 2 weeks.

L&D did not disappoint, with tiny new potatoes, baby squash, PATTYPAN SQUASH! I LOVE PATTYPAN SQUASH! and big fat tomatoes, begging to be slices and decorated with basil from the garden.

My garden…is there anyone more optimistic than a gardener in February? No, there is not. I bought seeds, and was certain by this time we’d be eating delicious things every night. We had a good bit of snow peas, that was nice,but by April they were done with. I got exactly 7 pods of English peas…how disappointing, but I tried to make the best of them by adding them to a risotto. Some lettuce, nothing to get excited about, a few tiny arugulas, but the basil looks good and the tomatoes are trying, I hope it doesn’t get too hot for them before I get a few, but down here, that is not a given.

So,I rely on L&D and the gardeners who are better at it than I.

Oh the potatoes! Tiny tiny red new potatoes, just a bite or two, such a creamy texture, pure perfection.

Oh the squash! I pick the smallest of the yellow squash, and treat them gently and simply.

Potatoes above, PATTYPAN SQUASH!! below- toss the squash with minced garlic and chopped fresh parsley and a bit of olive oil. Roast with the potatoes- 375F for 45 minutes.

Dinner!

The tomatoes were just sliced and sprinkled with fresh basil. The cucumbers are poona kheera cukes, an experiment in my garden, and are simply sliced and sprinkled with fresh chopped oregano.

I’ve never grown poona kheera cucumbers before, and they are delicious! The skin it a bit tough so they should be peeled, and the flavor is milder and a bit sweeter than the normal grocery store type. The texture is a lot like a small pickling cucumber.

When my 13 year old asked what was for supper, I told him and he said “what? no meat?” and I replied “no meat.” and he said “Ok, I’ll eat some leftover chicken from last night” and I said that was fine, if he was still hungry. Which he wasn’t…and that is a bloomin’ miracle because 13 year old boys are ALWAYS hungry.

As we were eating I thought “I shoulda got some fresh mozzerella to make a caprese salad…” then I thought “I shoulda got more potatoes.” Then Terry said it wouldn’t hurt his feelings one bit if I fixed those potatoes more often. Weekly even.

I am wondering how it would be to roast the potatoes then make a potato salad from them.